Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) - Republicans avoided a major headache on Tuesday night when Thom Tillis, the North Carolina house speaker and establishment favorite, won the Republican Senate nomination outright, dodging a protracted summer runoff fight against a grassroots-backed opponent.

With an assist from big-spending outside groups, Tillis dispatched his two main primary rivals, tea party-backed Greg Brannon and the Baptist pastor Mark Harris, with relative ease, clearing the 40% mark needed to skirt a July runoff election.

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Dutch/Bad Newz, VA - Take Back the House

The establishment guy won, but that still doesn't mean that he's a moderate. Tillis is just a right winger, just not right wingish enough as his teatard opponent was. The only take away I got from this is that the establishment is more concerned about winning and trying to put their nutjobs on silence.